“Politics gives guys so much power that they tend to behave badly around
women. And I hope I never get into that.” - William Jefferson Clinton
That was me! - Xi(400 posts. WHOOPIE!)
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“You know the one thing that’s wrong with this country?
Everyone gets a chance to have their fair say.”
What we really need to offer to Africa are industrialists. Teach them how to make their crops last better, grow bigger, and more often. Then teach them how to make their crops into something more useful and sell it to the world.
Industrialization often brings more hunger, more poverty, more sickness, more crime. Johannnesburg is one such example of this. I would rather take my chances in a village then live there. This also takes time and money - lots of it. For now, they should care more about feeding themselves, not others.
They cannot fully live off the land they live in forever. Rivers will dry up in the 4 year droughts. Farms will eventually stop yielding crops because of overharvesting. Industrialization + Democracy will definately make a huge difference.
However, instead we’re going into Iraq where the people are MUCH better off than they are in East Africa.
What are you trying to do? Change the course of history? - Xi
They cannot fully live off the land they live in forever. Rivers will dry up in the 4 year droughts. Farms will eventually stop yielding crops because of overharvesting. Industrialization + Democracy will definately make a huge difference.
Droughts have been a big problem in Africa, leading to immense famine. What is needed is a proper irrigation and clean water supply system (future conflicts will be faught for drinking water). Overharvesting isn’t that much of a problem, that is if the Africans are the taught the proper techniques of agriculture (ex crop rotation, fertilizers, avoidence of cash crops) and modernized farming (farm equipment, genetic engineering). This will require a lot of foreign capital, though not nearly enough as industrialization. Africans should worry more about agriculture and textiles than industrialization for now - esp. when it comes to competing with the already industrialized countries of the world. Democracy would help a lot, though more often than not, the Republics of Africa turn out to be more small party dictatorships, and it often requires US-UN soldiers to keep them in check.
Exactly my thoughts TG. I think our Soldiers would be better off protecting truely democratic countries than going after Saddam Hussein.
Well with the media – it seems that protecting African stablility and keeping the governments in check doesn’t exactly “Make the Headlines.” Millions there have been killed through Civil War, hunger, and strife – and yet this hardly makes the news. And you see why we don’t seem to care… pathetic. Of course, will even fellow Africans even care? Will they even listen?
Interesting topic, very expansive, so I’ll limit my comments to one.
Regarding Africa, the single best thing we could do to help them is eliminate our own subsidies and allow them the opportunity to trade. A good place to start would be in Agriculture where we (US, Can, Europe) waste billions upon billions of $ propping up our farmers and depressing the price of primary food stuffs. The result is massive overproduction in the developed countries and underproduction in the less developed countries. We actually produce more than enough food to feed the planet; we just produce it in the wrong areas and have no viable means of distributing it to where it is needed. If they were actually able to develop their own agriculture systems to the point where they could feed their own populations and export excess they would earn cash needed to buy infrastructure and finished goods. Easy in theory, but we all are quite guilty at the subsidy game, particularly in Agriculture and textiles etc.
SUD
Loathe as i am to argue with you, i think that you’re playing at not only an unpopular angle, but one that would hurt a lot of people. I agree that a WORLDWIDE loosening of subsidies would likely be “profitible” for all involved (i think we might even begin an WPC - wheat producing consortium). At the same time, an abrupt dropping of subsidies would have the potential to bankrupt many small farmers, leaving things wide open for larger “mega-farms” to purchase land far more cheaply than it’s worth, use an economy of scale to produce cheaply, and have a bit too much power. This is, of course, doing nothing for the developing world, except that many Canadian farmers have donated thousands of tonnes of grain to famine-stricken nations in the past. Would these mega-farms have the same charitible heart as the small farmers? Or would the almighty buck take too much room in front?
Hard to say how the 3rd world (Alabama, Zimbabwe, etc.) would benefit . . . .
Exactly SUD, the people of Africa don’t need to work in Textile Sweatshops for their economy to recover. They should become a supplier of Raw Materials until they build up their industry. It benefits both them and us. We can help them out by teaching them to apply more modern farming and mining techniques. Also by providing Political Stability (a war every 5 years never helps).
No slights intended. Just that the factors of production should be cheap (cheaper?) in Africa, but they aren’t because we subsidize at home. California produces a staggering amount of fruit and vegetables and they are very good at it. Mexico does not. But there’s no free market reason why this is so in todays world. Instead, it’s actually cheaper to import the Mexican workers and retain the status quo. Remove all the trade barriers & subsidies (eventually) in Ag products and part of California’s production will relocate a few 100 miles south to Mexico.
I like my Mexican farm works just to stay the where they are in California.
When you start exporting raw materials - it’s often that you’re on the losing side of it.
@TG:
No slights intended. Just that the factors of production should be cheap (cheaper?) in Africa, but they aren’t because we subsidize at home. California produces a staggering amount of fruit and vegetables and they are very good at it. Mexico does not. But there’s no free market reason why this is so in todays world. Instead, it’s actually cheaper to import the Mexican workers and retain the status quo. Remove all the trade barriers & subsidies (eventually) in Ag products and part of California’s production will relocate a few 100 miles south to Mexico.
I like my Mexican farm works just to stay the where they are in California.
When you start exporting raw materials - it’s often that you’re on the losing side of it.
a collective “Ugghhhh” from Canada . . . .
Ya, if Canada had its own fish processing plant, it could make much more in exporting fish than it currently does.
a collective “Ugghhhh” from Canada . . . .
Ya, if Canada had its own fish processing plant, it could make much more in exporting fish than it currently does.
It’s not bad. As long as the raw materials is replenishable, than the exporting of such can be quite profitable. However, even some of Canada’s natural resources are often exploited (ex. fish and lumber industry).
What we really need to offer to Africa are industrialists. Teach them how to make their crops last better, grow bigger, and more often. Then teach them how to make their crops into something more useful and sell it to the world.
“Communism is a proposition to structure the world more
reasonably, a proposition for changing the world. As such,
we have to analyze it and, if we deem it reasonable, act upon it.”
c_c_,
Donating grain doesn’t mean it gets to the starving masses. It was most likely sold to purchase military hardware or given to the needy supporters of the current regimes.
“Communism to me is one-third practice and
two-thirds explanation.” - Will Rogers, humorist
Wasn’t there something on the news about 12-15 migrant workers dying in a van crash in MAINE? :-? You let some get away,T_6!
c_c_, isn’t Canada the biggest supplier of lumber to the US? :P
How about Colin Powell’s idea of open borders with Canada and Mexico to set an example for the rest of the world? Maybe we could call it the DIPS (Disassociated Immigrants Protective States) :wink: - Xi
@Xi:
Wasn’t there something on the news about 12-15 migrant workers dying in a van crash in MAINE? :-? You let some get away,T_6!
c_c_, isn’t Canada the biggest supplier of lumber to the US? :P
My bro’ was tellin’ me a lotta MJ enthusiasts are movin’ up to around Vancouver, B.C. since you’ve got lax drug laws compared to the US.
Izzat so?How about Colin Powell’s idea of open borders with Canada and Mexico to set an example for the rest of the world? Maybe we could call it the DIPS (Disassociated Immigrants Protective States) :wink: - Xi
Yes, i’m sure we are one of the biggest suppliers of just about everything to the U.S. (well, lumber anyway) which is why i "uggg"ed earlier
And yes, usually when cops stop someone in Van (and more and more across the country) with a small amount of Mary Jane they’ll typically return it to them. If it’s a sufficient quantity, then the person will likely be picked up for traffiking
Also i’m not sure the whole “open borders” thing would work. The Americans have too many guns, and the Mexicans are a little too “Americanized” :lol:
c_c_,
Donating grain doesn’t mean it gets to the starving masses. It was most likely sold to purchase military hardware or given to the needy supporters of the current regimes.
We all saw what happened in Somlia, didn’t we?
